Upholstered leather sofa, my first, w/pics

[Dave Shively]

I have been "out of touch" for quite some time with Sawmill Creek (and another forum) and not in the shop as well all due to family health issues and lots of traveling. I'm trying to work back into participating again. I posted this on the other forum and wanted to so here.

I thought I would try a different type of project for a change. We needed to replace our two sofas, one full size and a smaller love seat. I thought I would tackle the larger one first. I did a lot of research on sofa construction and found that most sofas are built very poorly with lighter softwoods, loose fitting joints that are held together with just staples. I spoke to an upholsterer that his done work for my family many times and he confirmed my findings on upholstered furniture construction. He told me two main things, first a light weight sofa is going to be an inferior one due to the use of not using hard maple but of softwoods and plywood. Second he said if you lifted one corner leg off the floor and the far conner leg didn't leave the floor it was inferior and cheap because the frame was twisting due to softwoods and loose fitting joints.


So, I made my sofa from 1 1/4" hard maple and all joints were going to be ether mortise and tendon, pegs, screw and glue. I disassembled my current sofa to use it as a pattern and found how cheaply it was constructed as you can see in the first few photos. I also want to make the new one larger by 13" so I could lie down and still have room for my wife to seat on the other end. I also wanted to the new one to be upholstered in leather which REALLY added to the cost and of course the fore mentioned upholsterer did because this type of work is not my forte. I'm a wood worker not an upholsterer.


The frame alone weighed 322 pounds which I found out was the total weight of many store bought sofas. When it was finished I couldn't even pick up one end. The guy that upholstered it said he has never had a sofa frame come into his shop this well built or this heavy in over 35 plus years he has been in business. Now I just have to get the love seat done.

Dave

[Mark Bolton]

Wow, really amazing project. Do you mind giving a man hour tally of your time and what the upholstery coat was?

Really nice work.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Very well done Dave!


One of the jobs I had before I got my draft physical notice was working in an upholstered chair factory. I worked in the framing department building frames. For the record, it's piece work. We were paid by the type and number of frames built. It's not conducive to doing quality work. Before that, I worked in the engineering department time studying those same jobs and before that as a draftsman making drawings of the frame parts.

[Dave Shively]

Thanks Mark, no I don't mind. My part, the framing, and I terrible at keeping track of my hours on a project, but my best guess was about three weeks off and on.

The upholstery cost was just over $2500, but you have to understand that my choice of leather cost just over 4 times as regular fabric. The upholster told me this sofa built this way would be a $4500 to $5000 and then added, "if I could find one like it."

[Dave Shively]

Ken, That is interesting on the number of frames for your payment. Thanks for letting me know.

Dave

[Mike Wilkins]

You did a masterful job on the sofa. This is how furniture should be made. Its a shame that quantity seems to take precedence over quality these days. Thanks to craftsmen like yourself, there are still objects being made to last.
By the way; I recognized your shop from the Wood Magazine special publication and loved the layout, dust collection, and floor.

[Mark Bolton]

Thanks Mark, no I don't mind. My part, the framing, and I terrible at keeping track of my hours on a project, but my best guess was about three weeks off and on.

The upholstery cost was just over $2500, but you have to understand that my choice of leather cost just over 4 times as regular fabric. The upholster told me this sofa built this way would be a $4500 to $5000 and then added, "if I could find one like it."

Really nice work. Its great to see something like this here. Understandable about not tracking your hours. Im sure having built one the next would be much faster.

Really cool.

[Jim Becker]

OUTSTANDING project!!! This is an example of something I've always wanted to do...inspiring.

[Jim Matthews]

This is a brilliant piece of work.

kudos

[jack duren]

Nice work. Pleather or leather? Looks like a one piece back.... Our company makes a lot of seating....

images seat.jpeg

[Dave Shively]

Jack, yes you are right, the back is not leather and nether are the pillows (not seen in the photo) They are leather blend and the back was originally not to be seen so we didn't want to waste $$'s on leather that was up against the wall. The upholster did a great job of matching the materials. Good eye though

Dave

[jack duren]

Looks great. Most products today are leather where it is touched only. Completely covering the couch in leather is nice but financial overkill....

[Floyd Cox]

Outstanding work, I have been wanting to redo a piece we have, and have now been inspired.

[Will Boulware]

Neat to see something like this, as I had no idea how these things were made or what they looked like before upholstery. Great work on your part and my compliments to the upholsterer as well. Thanks for sharing!

[Pat Camara]

Wow--that's an inspiring project. Very impressive! Did you learn anything from the couch that will make doing the love seat any easier?